Parent/athlete Handbook
Team basics:
We are excited you’re considering joining our team! We here at Run 4 Life are an Iredell County based running club designed for homeschool and non-represented athletes in Iredell County from 2nd -12th grade. Our team will introduce student athletes to the basics of running and competing in Cross Country events and foster long term team development at the same time.
The cost is $50 per athlete, if cost is a barrier please speak up and we will work with you no questions asked. Uniform tops are an additional cost and are $28-$34 each.
***For uniform shorts we recommend something black, like these examples for modesty and uniformity. ***
Athlete Expectations:
Athletes are expected to practice Christ-like behavior at all times, walking in the fruits of the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-23
Cross country is a team sport. Although our athletes are gifted with different levels of natural ability, we expect all of them to work hard to develop their skills for the good of the team. We expect athletes and parents to encourage and cheer on one another during practices and meets. Our coaches will strive to instruct, challenge, and encourage your athlete but you and your child are ultimately responsible for developing their motivation to participate, to work hard, and to excel according to their abilities.
Athletes are expected to supplement team practices with runs and activities outside of our team practices. Beginning runners should run at least three days per week, and experienced runners should run at least five days per week beginning with our summer sessions. Athletes may cross–train with other sports or activities but should carefully consider how this impacts their running.
Young children: Athletes who are younger than middle–school age are welcome to participate on the team. However, although we encourage and remind our athletes to run with a buddy, we cannot guarantee that your child will be able to find a buddy at their running pace, especially if they are not able to run for the entire time. You should also understand that some competitive events may exclude runners younger than middle school age.
Parent expectations:
Parents are expected to practice Christ-like behavior at all times, walking in the fruits of the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-23
We ask parents to volunteer for routine race responsibilities such as providing water and snacks. Some races ask us to provide volunteers for race–specific needs such as timers and course observers and we ask parents to volunteer for these responsibilities as well.
We will also need help setting up, organizing, and conducting our Run4Life Invitational which we started back in 2024. More details will come from the coaches.
God has always graciously provided enough parents and graduates who are willing to coach and are always grateful for additional help. Please reach out to the coaches if you are interested in helping to coach.
Thank you for your enthusiastic support for your child and for the team!
Practices:
Practice is not mandatory but is strongly encouraged. If your family has other commitments, please don’t break your neck to get to our practice. Our practices are typically on Mondays and Thursday evenings as well as Saturday mornings on non race weekends. If you can’t make the practice, do the workout that the coaches place on Team Snap.
Practice fundamentals:
1) Come to practice hydrated with proper nutrition already consumed, properly dressed for running, and with a positive attitude.
2) Practice will be a full team effort and you will have fun. Our goal is to engage and challenge all the athletes and to make running fun, all while bringing honor to God.
3) Our training intensity will build over time and is designed for the athletes to follow the training schedule to achieve maximum physical results. It would embarrass God, the athlete, and our team if someone isn’t coming to the meets physically prepared. Parents, this is where we need your help. Please help to keep your athlete accountable.
4) LISTEN TO YOUR BODIES!!! If something hurts, do not run on it. Please seek medical attention. We are not doctors, nor do we want you to think that we are.
5) Please be flexible and pay attention to our communication portal “Team Snap” for any updates. Practice or race changes or any team needs that may arise will be communicated on Team Snap.
6) We cannot guarantee every runner that comes to practice will be able to run in our meets. Some meets do not allow younger elementary children to race in their meets. All children ages 8 and above are welcome to run with our team. However, they may not all get to compete at the meets. If your child is close to the 8 year old age limit please talk to the coaches to see if they might “try it” and see if it works for all parties involved.
Practice locations and details:
Block 1 is designed to build a fitness base and begin to build endurance and strength.
Location-Statesville Park and Soccer Complex Simonton Rd, Statesville, NC 28625 (drop off and pickup at
playground)
Block 2 is designed to continue to build strength, increase endurance and begin to introduce speed workouts (intervals).
Location-Mac Anderson Park 433 N Race St, Statesville, NC 28677 (drop off and pickup near the
bathrooms)
Block 3 will build on all the other blocks and include elements from each. This is our fine tuning block, we will work on items based on performance at the meet and how
the athletes are responding to training.
Location- Mac Anderson Park 433 N Race St, Statesville, NC 28677 (drop off and pickup near the
bathrooms)
Attire:
Girls are expected to wear modest clothing during practices and races.
Boys may not remove their shirts while running at any time.
For competition, all runners are expected to be uniform in appearance:
This includes:
Solid black running shorts (please no stripes)
Our team jerseys, these will be ordered in early July and are typically $25-$35 each.
A Note about real running shoes:
Yes, you most certainly can go to Kohl’s, Academy, or Dicks to purchase running shoes and those would be a good option. We recommend you go to a local running store to have your child’s foot scanned and sized properly. Depending on their size, the following store should be able to help you out and will offer 10%off for all shoes purchased.
Please call ahead and remember your child’s body is worth a few more dollars.
Charlotte Running Company Lake Norman
146 Mooresville Commons Way suite i, Mooresville, NC 28117
704-799-1400
Health and injury:
All Run 4 Life coaches are volunteer parents or recent Run 4 Life alumni; none of the coaches have specific medical training. We strive to give common–sense advice and help to our runners. We seek to challenge them to expand their capacity and to exceed perceived limits, which includes discomfort. Please work with the coaches if your child encounters pain or other limitations, but you should also understand that none of the advice we provide is qualified medical advice or is able to fully account for your child’s specific needs, condition, or limitations. You are ultimately responsible to determine and direct an appropriate training program for your child, and to determine appropriate rest and recovery plans if your child is injured.
Our practices vary in time and distance. For races, a typical distance for middle school is between 3km (1.86mi) and 2 miles. High school races will almost always be 5km, which is approximately 3.1 miles.
Remediation:
Run 4 Life coaches reserve the right to remove families and athletes from the team without refund if, at our sole discretion, we believe you or your athlete are undermining our mission and effort.
Competitive Meets:
Our schedule will include meets beginning mid August and ending roughly mid-October. All of our meets will be within 90 minutes of the Lake Norman area. All meet results are posted to nc.milesplit.com
Team Communication:
All team communication will be relayed through the Team Snap App. Please make sure to fill out our registration form so that you can be added to the Team snap website for team communications. Team Snap will have our practices, meets, and team events schedule. It is imperative to follow TeamSnap and utilize the features within the app to stay up to date. The team coaches and director do not have time to call each individual family so this app allows us to easily reach all families in one communication portal.
If a practice needs to be cancelled due to inclement weather the call to cancel will normally be made 2 hours in advance through Team Snap.